Y’all remember Karen Malina White, don’t you? She was that around the way girl in movies and sitcoms back in the day. Well in case you don’t remember her, let us refresh your memory: She played “Kaneesha Carter,” the high school student in the ’89 film, Lean on Me, who confided in the principal, “Mr. Clark” (Morgan Freeman) after she became pregnant. That movie was the bomb, wasn’t it?

You may have also heard her as the voice of “Dijonay Jones” on the Disney Channel animated comedy, The Proud Family; we all remember her as “Charmaine Brown” on The Cosby Show and the final season of A Different World; and as “Nicolette Vandross” on Malcolm & Eddie, the role she said she didn’t even have to audition for. Hmmm…wonder why? Hint, hint: because of Malcolm Jamal-Warner maybe? (Not that her acting ability didn’t speak for itself though).

Karen's also been getting her stage play acting on...

Karen's also been getting her stage play acting on, and one of her recent plays is titled “The Old Settler." Whether it’s television, film or theater, White is content when she’s acting in them. She’d prefer to do more films because they pay better and she wouldn’t mind doing another weekly TV series either. However, theater is her passion.

“I’m an artist,” says White. “I just want to do the work. I love what I do. I’m fortunate to be able to do it. There is nothing like theater. It’s that immediate response, that call and response. It’s a shared experience.”